Illustrative photo.
According to the ministry's report, the 25-year-old South African man landed at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on December 19.
He was sent to a local quarantine area upon arrival and tested positive for SAR-CoV-2 on December 23.
The patient is now being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
11 other new patients including six men and five women aged between 16-66 recently returned from the US and the UK in Hanoi, Vinh Long and Danang.
They were sent to quarantine areas upon arrival and are now being treated at local hospitals.
With these new infection cases, the number of imported Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 740.
As of 6 pm on December 24, a total of 1,281 Covid-19 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital. There have been 35 deaths, most of them being the elderly with serious underlying diseases.
At present, over 16,000 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or returned from virus-hit areas are being monitored at hospitals, quarantine facilities, and at home.